Method of making interlocking zipper elements



June 7, 1966 A. STElNGRUEBNER 3,255,233

METHOD OF MAKING INTERLOCKING ZIPPER ELEMENTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed March 18, 1963 INVENTOR. ARTHUR STEINGRUEBNER BY ama/MW AGENTS J1me 1966 A. STEINGRUEBNER 3,255,238

METHOD OF MAKING INTERLOCKING ZIPPER ELEMENTS Original Filed March 18, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.3

INVENTOR. ARTHUR STEINGRUEBNER WWW AGENTS June 1966 A. STEINGRUEBNER 3,255,283

METHOD OF MAKING INTERLOCKING ZIPPER ELEMENTS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG.4

Original Filed March 18, 1965 FIG.5

INVENTOR. ARTHUR STEINGRUEBNER W M W AGENTS United States Patent 7 Claims. 61. 264-230 This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 274,886, filed on March 18, 1963.

The present invention relates to zippers. More particularly the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing interlocking zipper elements of the type disclosed in my application Serial No. 831,628, now Patent Number 3,128,518.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing such Zipper elements from wires or threads of any cross sectional shape and particularly from round wires.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for producing zipper elements of plastic material.

The interlocking zipper elements are preferably manufactured from pre-stretched polyamide, polyurethane or polyester wire.

For manufacturing'zipper elements in continuous operation by the method of the present invention, which will be described hereinafter, the wire is introduced into a shaping apparatus on one side, passed therethrough and a fastener element is withdrawn from the other side. According to the method of the present invention, the wire is continuously introduced perpendicularly to a reference plane which corresponds to a plane common to the two zipper halves in the assembled condition of the zipper. The wire is bent parallel to said plane. It is then folded to form a leg and bent back over a pin, whereupon it is folded to form a second leg and bent off to form a foot portion. The'reupon the wire is led to the position of the next interlocking member in the aforementioned plane or approximately parallelto it. During the afore-described principal shaping operation of the individual members of the interlocking elements, an interlocking head is formed on each member.

The plastic material of the freshly formed zipper element is stabilized by being guided through a heating zone immediately after having been formed.

It is preferred simultaneously to manufacture two continuous zipper elements, and to withdraw them from the apparatus together in continuous operation.

The invention will be more fully appreciated upon consideration of the following detail description of a preferred embodiment relating to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the method of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational, partly sectional view of an apparatus for performing the method of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, partly sectional plan view of the device of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, partly sectional front view of the device of FIG. 3.

The apparatus for performing the method of the invention will first be described with references to FIGS. 3 7

3,255,288 Patented June 7,1966

in FIG. 5. The disk 39 rotates in a recess 40 of a thread guide 21 suitably shaped for actuating reciprocating movement of the guide 21 on bearings 41 in the direction of the arrow 20 transversely of the shaft 38. The two heads 42 of the thread guide 21 which are laterally spaced from the shaft 38 in a symmetrical manner, and of which only one is visible in.FIGS. 4 and 5, each carry one of two dies 30 which face inwardly toward the shaft 38.

On the end of the shaft 38 remote from the pulley 34 there is mounted a bevel gear wheel 43 (see FIG. 4), which meshes with a bevel gear wheel 44 on a transverse shaft 45. The transverse shaft 45 is supported in the gear box 33 on bearing 46, and carries a worm 47 in the interior of the box. This worm cooperates with a wormwheel 48. The wheel 48 is shown in FIG. 4 in chain-dotted lines, since it is located below the transverse shaft 45.

The worm wheel is mounted on a shaft 49 which is rotatably supported in a bearing 51 of the gear box. A bevel gear 50 is secured to the free end of the shaft 49 for engagement with a bevel gear 52 on a shaft 53. The two ends of the transverse shaft 45 project from the gear box 33 at opposite sides thereof, and each carry two cam 1 disks 54 and 55. The cam disk 54 rotates in a recess 56 of a feed arm 57 the free forked end 58 of which straddles a transverse shaft 59, and is hereby longitudinally slidable on the shaft which is arranged above the shaft 45.

When driven by the cam disk 54, the feed arm 57 moves to actuate a pawl 61, which is pivotally mounted on a pin 60. The cyclic movement of the feed lever is indicated by the arrows 62.

Wheels 24 are respectively mounted on the two ends of the upper transverse shaft 59 and are provided with two toothed rims each, as best seen from FIG. 5. A rim of shaping teeth 63 is instrumental in shaping the interlocking elements of the invention as will be more fully discussed in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2. A rim of ratchet teeth 64 cooperates with the pawl 61 and participates in one phase of the movement 62 of the feed arm 57, whereby the shaping wheel 24 is indexed or rotated in a stepwise manner. The pivoting movement of the pawl 61 is limited by stops 65 on both sides of the pawl 61 on the arm 57.

The afore-mentioned cam disk 55 on the shaft 45 rotates in a recess 67 of a two-armed lever 68. This lever is hingedly attached by a pin 69 to a support 70 and moves cyclically as shown by the arrows 71. The support 70 is pivoted on a bracket 72 by a pivot pin 73. The free end of the two-armed lever 68 carries a mandrel pin 27 which is fixed on the lever by two screws 74. The cylindrical free end of the pin 27 moves closely adjacent the shaping teeth 63 of the wheel 24 and is spaced from the wheel in a direction outward of the gear box 33.

The peripheral portions of the wheels 24 arranged on both sides of the gear box 33 are guided in respective circular grooves formed :by cooperating guides 75 and 76, which are surrounded by a layer 77 of insulating material. The layer 77 is surrounded by a ring-shaped sheet steel case 78 of U-shaped cross-section with the open side facing inward to allow the wheel 24 to enter. The case 78 extends over three quarters of the wheel periphery, as can be seen from FIG. 3. Between the insulating layer 77 and the guides 75, 76, there is mounted a heating element 79 which extends over the entire arcuate length of the case 78.

A stripper member 81 is located at the outlet end 80 of the sheet steel case 78 for separating the formed interlocking elements from the wheel 24. The stripper members 81 are arranged on both sides of the gear box 33. They are fixed to the gear box by a bracket 82 and a screw 83.

At the end of the gear box opposite the pulley 34, a

feed wheel 84 is mounted on :the afore-described shaft 53, and simultaneously advances the two fastener elements 85 which are delivered by stripper members 81 from both sides as indicated by chain-dotted lines. They are joined by a conventional pull-up device 86, which is not described in detail, to form a closed zipper 87, and are discharged. The zipper then runs in the direction of the arrow 88 to a winding device not itself represented in the drawing. The winding device is driven by a chain drive of which only a sprocket 89 on the shaft 53 and a chain 90 are shown in FIG. 4. Threads or wires 18 are guided from both sides around a guide roll 91 to the part of the machine where the interlocking elements are formed, as can be seen from FIG. 5. The electric heating current for stabilizing the interlocking elements formed at the inlet end 92 of the case 78 is supplied from a junction box 93, which can be connected with a main, to the heating element 79 in the case 78.

The operation of the afore-described apparatus will next be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the shaping elements of the apparatus in a somewhat diagrammatic manner on a greatly enlarged scale. They respectively illustrate two forming steps. The reference plane 17 marked in FIG. 1 by a dotted line and shading corresponds (to the common plane in which all members of the two zipper elements will normally be located when the zipper is assembled. This plane of reference is horizontal.

A plastic wire or thread 18 is continuously. passed upward through a bore 19 in the thread guide 21, that moves to and fro in the direction of the arrow 20. After leaving the thread-guide, the wire or thread is bent into the reference plane 17 or into a plane parallel thereto. This is done by means of the thread guide 21 which guides the thread through a gap 22 between [the shaping teeth 63 of the wheel 24. The wheel is indexed in the direction of the arrow 23, whereby the leg 2 of a zipper member is formed.

As soon as the thread guide 21 has assumed the position shown in FIG. 1, the mandrel pin 27 starts its operation. The pin is movable perpendicularly to the thread guide and tangentially and radially relative to the wheel 24 in the respective directions of the arrows 25 and 26. The pin 27 enters a recess 28 of the thread guide in the direction of the arrow 25, then takes :the thread along in an upward move out of the recess 28, whereupon the thread guide moves inward of the box 33 until it reaches the position shown in FIG. 2. The thread 18 is thereby wrapped around the mandrel pin 27 to form the bight of the head portion 29 of an interlocking member.

Simultaneously with the movement of the thread guide 21, a die 30 which is mounted on the thread guide moves toward the head portion 29 and flattens the head against the mandrel pin 27. The mandrel pin 27 then is retracted,

and the wheel 24 is indexed forward by one tooth, whereby the thread is wrapped around the inner radially extending face of a shaping tooth. Thus a connecting piece 31 is formed between two members of the zipper element. The described procedure is repeated over and over, and a continuous interlocking element is formed automatically.

The interlocking element passes through a heating zone the invention set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of making a continuous interlocking fastener element from a continuous length of wire, comprising the steps of bending a first longitudinal portion of said wire into an approximate U-shape having a bight portion and two leg portions, said portions defining a first plane; bending a second longitudinal portion of said wire contiguously adjacent one of said leg portions into a bight portion and another leg portion to form another approximate U-shape with said one leg portion, said other U-shape defining a second plane intersecting said first plane; and bending a third longitudinal portion of said wire, contiguously adjacent said other leg portion into a bight portion and a leg portion to form an additional U-shape with said other leg portion, said additional U-shape defining a plane parallel .to the plane of the U-shape of said first wire portion.

2. A method as set forth in claim 1 including the step of flattening the bight portion of said first wire portion in a plane substantially perpendicular to said first plane.

3. A method as set forth in claim 2, wherein said bight portion of said first wire portion is flattened prior to the bending of said second wire portion.

4. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein a mandrel member having a surface of arcuate cross section is placed into contact with said first longitudinal wire portion prior to said bending, and said first wire portion is bent over said surface of said mandrel member into said U-shape.

5. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said wire consists essentially of a plastic selected from the group consisting of pre-stretched polyamide, polyurethane, and polyester, and said wire portions are, stress relieved and set at elevated temperature after said bending.

6. A method as set forth in claim 5, wherein said wire is round.

7. A method as set forth in claim 5, wherein said second wire portion is bent over a shaping member into said other U-shape, and stress relieved and set at said elevated temperature while in contact with said shaping member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,071,603 2/1937 Winterhalter 29410 2,903,745 9/1959 Hansen 18-19 2,907,066 10/1959 Wahl 264-381 3,054,149 9/ 1962 Streicher 264--285 3,197,537 7/1965 Hansen 264-287 JOHN F. CAMPBELL, Primary Examiner.

THOMAS H. EAGER, Examiner, 

1. A METHOD OF MAKING A CONTINUOUS INTERLOCKING FASTENER ELEMENT FROM A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF WIRE, COMPRISING THE STEPS OF BENDING A FIRST LONGITUDINAL PORTION OF SAID WIRE INTO AN APPROXIMATE U-SHAPE HAVING A BIGHT PORTION AND TWO LEG PORTIONS, SAID PORTIONS DEFINING A FIRST PLANE; BENDING A SECOND LONGITUDINAL PORTION OF SAID WIRE CONTIGUOUSLY ADJACENT ONE OF SAID LEG PORTIONS INTO A BRIGHT PORTION AND ANOTHER LEG PORTION TO FORM ANOTHER APPROXIMATE U-SHAPE WITH SAID ONE LEG POR- 